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What tests have people passed and what other vehicles do you own?

as you'll be aware, cyclists havent paid to use the road, havent passed a test and dont know what theyre doing. Riding in the middle of the road and two abreast, they bring misery to motorists daily. So, what tests has everyone passed, and what vehicles do you own?

I have a 1997 car which I just did the cambelt kit on. 

I also own a 2005 two stroke enduro motorbike, a 1999 kawasaki 600 and a chinese 125 comuting motorbike. 

I passed my car test in 2007 and 2011, [ dont ask why], my HGV training took me two years to pass, I did five motorbike cbts, then my a1 bike test, then my big bike test the DAS. I did the advanced motorists driving course and am trained to drive in high speed emergency scenarios[ think big van with medical equipment if you want to guess my job]. 

No, im just a cyclist with no clue, who refuses to use cycle lanes because im annoying. I dont pay road tax, only vehicle excise duty, 155 quid for my car, 66 quid for big bike, 20 quid and another 20 quid for the 125s. I can also drive HGV/s wagons but i only do that occasionally now. 

So, what cars/ bikes/ licences does everyone else have? Or are you all just riding bicycles worth 5 grand because youre too poor to afford a car and want to sit in traffic all day? :D[ this seems to be what most motorists think of cyclists] 

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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34 comments

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HoarseMann | 4 years ago
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Passed driving test first attempt 4 weeks after my 17th birthday. Had driving lessons on a airfield perimeter road when 16, so could control a car properly before I was let loose on the roads. Lucky enough to get a hot hatch for my 17th bday. Had a car ever since. Done IAM advanced driving test in my 20's.

Now got 2 brand new SUVs on the drive. Last 10 years had a new car every 6 months. Never mind the “road tax”, that’s a lot of VAT.

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srchar | 4 years ago
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I had a 310R for the weekend not long ago. Fabulous machine. Would only be a toy for me though - I've no idea how the nutters who daily a Caterham do it.

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carlosdsanchez | 4 years ago
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Passed my driving test in 1992. I haven't regularly commuted by car to work since 2003, which is when I sold my car (mazda 323F GT - I loved that car) and moved to London. Commuted by public transport or walked to work while I lived there. Then moved to Norfolk in 2008 and have cycled to work ever since. In that time I've cycled over 90,000 miles and probably driven less than 15,000. Household has 1 car which my wife uses because she takes the kids to school and she has a manual job, where as I sit at a desk all day.

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CXR94Di2 | 4 years ago
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I have been driving or riding motorcycles over 35 years, cycling for more in the last 8 years. I probably have done a million miles in vehicles. I still own motorcycles and cars, but my favourite is a Tesla . We are moving to a FEF(fully electric family) in the near future, will be fantastic if we can almost off grid with our solar panel array

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ROOTminus1 | 4 years ago
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Tests? I've passed loads of those; GCSEs, A Levels, Driving Licence, Bachelors of Engineering... in that order actually. I lived in the midlands for years and managed about 10 years of adulthood without needing a car.

My main methods of transportation are Shanks' pony for short distance, Spec Allez commuter, Norco Sight for play time on the trails, and a BMW X1 for journeys to the other side of the city or when I have to go half way up-country (very little is 'local' to the city of Plymouth). Having spent my early adulthood walking places, riding, getting the train, or lift sharing I missed the boy-racer phase and I genuinely feel the better for it. For me the 'game' of driving when you're on a long journey, everything's safe and considered, isn't beat-the-satnav, it's how-high-I-can-push-the-average-mpg.

I tend to drive my long distances in late evenings when the roads are clear and there are distinctly less muppets about neglecting the much maligned lane 1 of the motorway.

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srchar replied to ROOTminus1 | 4 years ago
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ROOTminus1 wrote:

how-high-I-can-push-the-average-mpg

My second favourtie on-road driving game, the best being the one accessed by occasionally driving a car club BMW i3: the how-few-times-can-I-push-the-brake-pedal game.

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BehindTheBikesheds replied to srchar | 4 years ago
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srchar wrote:

ROOTminus1 wrote:

how-high-I-can-push-the-average-mpg

My second favourtie on-road driving game, the best being the one accessed by occasionally driving a car club BMW i3: the how-few-times-can-I-push-the-brake-pedal game.

Sad isn't it, the computer button my Passat Est has been hammered since I bought it 14 years ago, once managed 62mpg coming back from France with myself, the mrs, 2 bikes, self catering gear and a dozen cases of french plonk. it all went south as soon as we hit the M25 just before Dartford!

I squeezed 55mpg out of my 1.3 Petrol 1989 MKII Astra on a run to Peterborough in the early 90s, best ever was 2 weeks ago in my mums Skoda Fabia greenline thingy, 3 cyclinder job so clattery as anything at low speeds but managed an easy 76mpg over 100 miles when collecting a bike i accidentally bought to coincide with my visit up North, I reckon it would do 80mpg without much difficulty.

 

 

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Sriracha replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 4 years ago
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BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

srchar wrote:

ROOTminus1 wrote:

how-high-I-can-push-the-average-mpg

My second favourtie on-road driving game, the best being the one accessed by occasionally driving a car club BMW i3: the how-few-times-can-I-push-the-brake-pedal game.

Sad isn't it, the computer button my Passat Est has been hammered since I bought it 14 years ago, once managed 62mpg coming back from France with myself, the mrs, 2 bikes, self catering gear and a dozen cases of french plonk. it all went south as soon as we hit the M25 just before Dartford!

I squeezed 55mpg out of my 1.3 Petrol 1989 MKII Astra on a run to Peterborough in the early 90s, best ever was 2 weeks ago in my mums Skoda Fabia greenline thingy, 3 cyclinder job so clattery as anything at low speeds but managed an easy 76mpg over 100 miles when collecting a bike i accidentally bought to coincide with my visit up North, I reckon it would do 80mpg without much difficulty.

 

 

Then try measuring the real mpg, the one you pay for. My VW claims all sorts of lofty mpg figures, never borne out at the pumps.

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Boatsie replied to Sriracha | 4 years ago
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Sriracha wrote:
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

srchar wrote:

ROOTminus1 wrote:

how-high-I-can-push-the-average-mpg

My second favourtie on-road driving game, the best being the one accessed by occasionally driving a car club BMW i3: the how-few-times-can-I-push-the-brake-pedal game.

Sad isn't it, the computer button my Passat Est has been hammered since I bought it 14 years ago, once managed 62mpg coming back from France with myself, the mrs, 2 bikes, self catering gear and a dozen cases of french plonk. it all went south as soon as we hit the M25 just before Dartford!

I squeezed 55mpg out of my 1.3 Petrol 1989 MKII Astra on a run to Peterborough in the early 90s, best ever was 2 weeks ago in my mums Skoda Fabia greenline thingy, 3 cyclinder job so clattery as anything at low speeds but managed an easy 76mpg over 100 miles when collecting a bike i accidentally bought to coincide with my visit up North, I reckon it would do 80mpg without much difficulty.

 

 

Then try measuring the real mpg, the one you pay for. My VW claims all sorts of lofty mpg figures, never borne out at the pumps.

Primal numbers naturally balance a circle.
3 cylinder Suzuki was naturally cheap and then some with its modified electronics. 5 cylinder Volvos are gorgeous. That wagon was like a track car under a storage box wind protector. Rear hard linkage 4ws. I'd thought I broke a side window (heavy bag hit door skin) using cruise control on perpendicular bend at speed limit. 2,3,5 cylinders are naturally easier to balance. Basic principles.
Thus.. Rather than a 36 spoke rim, I have 37 hole rims.. Balances bike well  3

I don't understand this but when you score a basic principle you.. Um.. Realize a common law. (Not sure about authenticity of a 37 hole rim balance  1 )

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BehindTheBikesheds replied to Sriracha | 4 years ago
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Sriracha wrote:
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

srchar wrote:

ROOTminus1 wrote:

how-high-I-can-push-the-average-mpg

My second favourtie on-road driving game, the best being the one accessed by occasionally driving a car club BMW i3: the how-few-times-can-I-push-the-brake-pedal game.

Sad isn't it, the computer button my Passat Est has been hammered since I bought it 14 years ago, once managed 62mpg coming back from France with myself, the mrs, 2 bikes, self catering gear and a dozen cases of french plonk. it all went south as soon as we hit the M25 just before Dartford!

I squeezed 55mpg out of my 1.3 Petrol 1989 MKII Astra on a run to Peterborough in the early 90s, best ever was 2 weeks ago in my mums Skoda Fabia greenline thingy, 3 cyclinder job so clattery as anything at low speeds but managed an easy 76mpg over 100 miles when collecting a bike i accidentally bought to coincide with my visit up North, I reckon it would do 80mpg without much difficulty.

 

 

Then try measuring the real mpg, the one you pay for. My VW claims all sorts of lofty mpg figures, never borne out at the pumps.

How do you know I didn't already, been checking brim to brim since I first started driving, grandpop told me about that and a few more things to boot.

Actually as I fitted slightly larger tyres than spec not long after I bought it(a set of mint alloys from a squaddie with new Dunlop's on it for £140 thank you very much!) it actually slightly under records the fuel economy and I always work it out anyways as opposed to relying on the computer for actual. The older VWs like mine aren't the dodgy lot of the last few years and indeed my emissions in real world use due to part veggie oil were ridiculously low, my smoke test was always well under half the pass mark on the first run.

That's contra to a lot of  the EURO6 diesels (from all manufacturers) which took the absolute piss with emissions in real world use, a significant number actually worse than EURO4.

This is why Sadiq Khan's ULEZ stance for E6 diesels is a load of bollocks

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srchar replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 4 years ago
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BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

That's contra to a lot of  the EURO6 diesels (from all manufacturers) which took the absolute piss with emissions in real world use, a significant number actually worse than EURO4.

This is why Sadiq Khan's ULEZ stance for E6 diesels is a load of bollocks

Can you recommend some reading on EU4 vs EU6 BTBS?  My lungs says that the air quality inside the north circ has deteriorated markedly over the last few years - could this by why?

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BehindTheBikesheds replied to srchar | 4 years ago
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srchar wrote:

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

That's contra to a lot of  the EURO6 diesels (from all manufacturers) which took the absolute piss with emissions in real world use, a significant number actually worse than EURO4.

This is why Sadiq Khan's ULEZ stance for E6 diesels is a load of bollocks

Can you recommend some reading on EU4 vs EU6 BTBS?  My lungs says that the air quality inside the north circ has deteriorated markedly over the last few years - could this by why?

I don't have a direct comparison in terms of reading and I'm not saying the overall effect isn't better, but that could be down to a lot of the older vehicles have gone due to the charge including vehicles that really were horrible cancer machines, there is also a reduction in overall motor traffic AND an increase in electric vehicles. These things will clearly reduce pollution (though I don't know what London's current PM NOx measurements are and how that compares to x period previously).

However E6 is a sham, dispensation of the emissions limit was given to E6 vehicles for a lengthy period of time, I wrote to SK stating that E6 vehicles were being given right to enter into the ULEZ DOC despite the evidence showing that swathes of these vehicles (about 90%) were not actually meeting the E6 standard in real world use. IIRC one test used a E6 Renault Clio 1.5 and it was TWENTY times the actual limit for NOx, that's actually three times higher than the EuroIII limit and  six times the E4 limit ffs! The results from one test said the average of emissions was ELEVEN times over the limit for all E6 vehicles they tested!

I'll see if I can dig out the independant tests but here's an article for now. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/news/new-rating-system-clarifies-real-w...

And this came to hand quickly but only references E5/6 https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/55296/2/Revised%20manusc...

Edit A fairly narrow band of vehciles but E4-E6, unsurprisingly E5 and E6 don't come out of the testing well at all! http://www.aaqr.org/files/article/6525/13_AAQR-17-02-OA-0080_2289-2299.pdf

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Boatsie | 4 years ago
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I did a beauty. Fresh on license early 1990s. I rammed the show pony of the Rolls Royce club 4 years straight: A Silver Shadow '56 Rolls Royce.
A pristine machine. Wow, they are a very strong vehicle!!! Insurance paid the damage bill. Reminds myself to pay bike insurance. Bicycle SA offer a great deal and..... cheaper than car insurance.

Hear's 2 sharing the road.. Hip hip
 3  3

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Griff500 | 4 years ago
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Passed my car test in 1975, and bizarrely, my licence says I can drive a motor bike of any size. The fact I could be let loose on a 1000cc motor bike is just nuts. Current cars, BMW 1 series and Alpine A110.

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dobbo996 replied to Griff500 | 4 years ago
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Griff500 wrote:

Passed my car test in 1975, and bizarrely, my licence says I can drive a motor bike of any size. The fact I could be let loose on a 1000cc motor bike is just nuts. Current cars, BMW 1 series and Alpine A110.

There were lots of 'grandfather rights' applied when driving licences changed back in the early 2000s.  Category A (full motorcycle) was placed on full car licences from 2013. However....if you check the back of your licence you'll probably have a restriction to category A of "TRI", which limits you to riding a tricycle. Sorry....but probably for the best : )

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Griff500 replied to dobbo996 | 4 years ago
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dobbo996 wrote:

Griff500 wrote:

Passed my car test in 1975, and bizarrely, my licence says I can drive a motor bike of any size. The fact I could be let loose on a 1000cc motor bike is just nuts. Current cars, BMW 1 series and Alpine A110.

There were lots of 'grandfather rights' applied when driving licences changed back in the early 2000s.  Category A (full motorcycle) was placed on full car licences from 2013. However....if you check the back of your licence you'll probably have a restriction to category A of "TRI", which limits you to riding a tricycle. Sorry....but probably for the best : )

On closer inspection, there is a 79(3) code, which as you say, restricts me to a trike. Need to cancel the Ducati and buy a Canam.

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quiff | 4 years ago
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I take the point, but I feel that answering drivers' prejudices / criticisms with "I'm a driver too" sort of panders to them and misses the point. It's immaterial whether or not a cyclist actually pays for the privilege of using their chosen method of transport on the road and whether they have been trained to use it, because law / policy makers have decided the harm they cause doesn't warrant mandatory licensing and taxation. Instead, drivers of motor vehicles are supposed to be trained to show care for vulnerable road users.   

Anyway, to answer the question, just the standard car test, held for 18 years without points (though not without some stupid moments in my earlier driving years). I consider myself a "petrolhead" and have driven a couple of nice cars, but only recently bought my first (very sensible) car and am now sort of reconciled that my teenage vision of owning a sports car or three is unlikely to happen - it now just feels a bit socially irresponsible, not to mention financially crippling when I don't actually need a car for day to day life. Maybe a hot hatch or Lotus Elise someday before they ban them.     

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srchar replied to quiff | 4 years ago
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quiff wrote:

don't actually need a car for day to day life. Maybe a hot hatch or Lotus Elise

If you genuinely don't need a car for anything other than a bit of fun, get a Caterham. You'll thank me.

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brooksby replied to srchar | 4 years ago
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srchar wrote:

quiff wrote:

don't actually need a car for day to day life. Maybe a hot hatch or Lotus Elise

If you genuinely don't need a car for anything other than a bit of fun, get a Caterham. You'll thank me.

Be seeing you! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP5r1eLIPt4

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kil0ran replied to srchar | 4 years ago
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srchar wrote:

quiff wrote:

don't actually need a car for day to day life. Maybe a hot hatch or Lotus Elise

If you genuinely don't need a car for anything other than a bit of fun, get a Caterham. You'll thank me.

My lad's school does automotive engineering from age 12, thinking of funding a Locost build. Issue I'd imagine is finding a suitable RWD donor these days.

I'd love an Elise but even in my slimmer 30s I didn't really fit them. Not a hope now.

Modern Caterhams are absolutely insane things - plus they're built for the larger driver unlike the Elise. Turn of the century K-series Superlight would do very nicely thank you.

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dobbo996 | 4 years ago
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Motorcycle licence since 1977, car licence since 1992 (motorcycles were my main form of transport from my late teens into my early '30s). Plenty of experience driving large vans, fixed chassis small lorries and 17-seater passenger vehicles. Until 2017 my job took me all over Wales, I was probably driving 25,000 miles a year. Just sold my last motorcycle - a modified 1982 BMW airhead - because I wasn't using it, just sitting in the shed. I don't drive much these days, perhaps once a week, because I can commute by bicycle, public transport where I live is good, and the town centre is only 10 minutes' walk from my house. Wife has her own car, an Abarth 595 Turismo, which I drive very occasionally. It's tiny, lots of fun, but a bit nuts and always makes me laugh when it's parked next to a crazy-large SUV. We also have an old, battered Ford Fiesta which I use to haul shit to the tip. It lives with my daughter most of the time.    

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kil0ran | 4 years ago
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Cycling Proficiency c.1980

Passed my standard car test at 18 in the late '80s. Two sets of three points for speeding on my license since then, three at-fault collisions - that was until I grew up and became sensible. Specifically didn't include the right to ride motorcycles on my license - I passed before the rules changed about L plates for bikes and CBT and all that stuff. I was on the verge of doing my bike test when a workmate was killed (I was the last person to speak to him) and so I binned that idea.

Currently drive a 2002 Mondeo estate that's more rust than steel. Forget Rule 12, the empty bike rack is worth more than the car  4

In my 20s/30s I was a full-on Max Power boy racer, loads of modified cars culminating in an utterly dull Coupe Fiat Turbo (220bhp, 140mph on the Hangar Straight) which convinced me all cars were essentially the same, hence the family estate.

Genuinely loving the bangernomics approach, I have mates who pay more monthly for their cars on lease than I paid outright for the Mondy. I am tempted to get a trackday car once my son is old enough to drive on private land but I think I'd look at the cost and think "ooh I could get a nice set of carbon rims for that" and so not bother.

The great thing about old cars is that they're cheap, and if they've got north of 200k miles probably well-cared for, and there's a sweet-spot of technology around the early-2000s where they're still fixable at home. Buy something that's had clutch/water pump/cambelt done, with 4 good tyres, and you're laughing. S-Class Merc with a towbar next on the list.

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cycle.london | 4 years ago
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Just my motorcycle licence, but haven't actually owned once since.. oh, erm ... 2005. 

I occasionally go onto sites like MCN and look at bikes for sale, and think that I'll buy myself a used Honda Blackbird, or maybe an Aprilia Futura.  And then I realise that the day I do that, my bikes will sit rotting in the shed.

Plus, I'm not sure my wife would like to be pillion.   She says that if we do that, then she'll want to pass her bike test and get her own bike.  But the thought that I could get her into motorbikes, and she could potentially be killed or seriously injured, because of me...   She's not 'assertive' or confident enough to ride a motorcycle, IMHO. 

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BehindTheBikesheds | 4 years ago
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Passed driving test at 23 after 7 official lessons and a handful in an allegro about a year before, did an approved advanced driving course and test in 2010. Spent just over a decade driving into and around London/East/SE accumulating too many miles in the smoke and the M25, never had to brake sharply for peds or people on bikes, only motorist scum, absolute cockroaches!

Car, VW Passat, has been SORN since Oct 2017, drive a Ford van once a week for work (22 miles total delivering meals for people in the community) turning circle of an aircraft carrier and at 2000 revs there's a horrible dead spot, oh and the van is tracked using a system that is FUBAR and inaccurate as buggary so you have to drive like Miss Daisy and some!

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RMurphy195 | 4 years ago
1 like

Passed my motorbike test in the late 60's, car test a couple of years later.

Skoda Rapid spaceback plus MX5, currently. And a Condor tourer and a Brompton folder.

The Spaceback (1.6diesel for my sins) is quite a workhorse and a surprisingly comfortable car (unless you are used to Mercs I suppose). During my house move it carted furniture, decorating materials and other bricabrac, since then its carried fence posts, bags of gravel, loft boarding, bags of rubble, loads of cut-down shrubs, rotting wood, scrap metal and all sorts to/from various places. And it tows my caravan!

Pay road tax and a huge proportion of tax on fuel for the cars (difficult to tow a caravan with a bike!).

I also pay council tax - as I pointed out to one driver who came out with the "you don't pay road tax" thing when I chatted to him about his behaviour towards cyclists outside my own house - pointing to the house, the cars, and the road which was maintained by the local council (hence the council tax!). He was ignoring my hand signal as I approached my driveway, - I wanted to turn right into it, and I was going too slow for him. Shame!

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Dicklexic | 4 years ago
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Passed my driving test 28 years ago, but have never had the need for any other forms of driving license, although I have always had a hankering for a motorbike, but never committed to the training. I had an MX bike as a kid, and really wanted to get a 50cc when I turned 16 but bowed to my parents request to NOT ride a motorbike on the road and it never went any further. I guess they didn't want me riding on the road like I did around muddy fields!

As well as the pushbikes (Road, CX, MTB x2) I also have a white van and a 5-series BMW estate. Turns out white vans and BMW's do have perfectly functioning indicators, they just need to be used properly!

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Hirsute | 4 years ago
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I passed my cycling proficiency test many years ago.

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Boatsie | 4 years ago
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Just off topic abit..
2TG s are really nice cast iron 1600cc engines.
Looks similar to an old Alfa Romeo. A great engine to learn with.
Cast iron hence can cook. I'm not sure about cooling, I used a 7 litre system with a radiator from a v8 and it didn't miss a beat.
Semi spherical heads and a beautiful valve system controlled by twin high lift overhead cams turned via twin chains (in case 1 lets go).
To overlap valves to alter torque was simply removal of front cover and turn a notch.
Mine wasn't quick. A std front wheel drive Holden Gemini was quicker from stop. Tall cogged to match bhp to wind yet could go taller as redline in top was achievable.
When notched, idle lumped below 2000rpm, torque band narrowed, redline reduced to 6500rpm. But wheel traction loss from pump of throttle was allowed at 60kmph.
Std notching of cam gave a cheap run about and a redline exceeding 7500rpm.
Nothing flash, they're cheap engines compared to modern. 4AG (alloy Toyota 1600cc) are lighter and more precisely built as are other makers.
But budget boy racing, it is a tough engine and unlike uncles race engines, never needed stripping. I believe on day license track days are $150 Aud down under.
Mates had v8s and a much bigger fuel cost.
That engine had twin 40 or 45mm carburetors and as long as the secondaries were closed, the hose flow was low.
Just a cheap car.  1  1

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srchar | 4 years ago
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I did Pass Plus many, many years ago, because the cost of the course was more than covered by the attendant reduction in insurance premiums. Having done it, I think it should be mandatory to do Pass Plus within three months of passing your test, if only to teach people how to use a motorway properly. It's quite amazing that we allow new drivers to use the motorways, having had absolutely zero tuition, except perhaps the odd dual-carriageway encounter. Little wonder that many drivers sit in the middle lane at 65mph, effectively removing a third of the motorway's capacity. In fact, while we're at it, bring back public information films to peddle the message about keeping left unless overtaking!

Not road related, but I've had an ARDS racing licence for quite a few years now. I'm one of those unicorns (according to the press) who likes both driving fast (on a track) and utility cycling. I know, I really should pick a side...

We have a rather old, and quite boring, diesel Skoda Octavia estate for motorised transport duties. Actually, I think it's quite cool in a "does exactly what you ask of it without making a fuss" kind of way. It's a doddle to work on and parts cost buttons, so it will be with us until it dies. Also have a couple of Ferraris (flame me); one for the road, which gets used for the odd European jaunt, and one for track use.

FWIW, I find today's car scene, and most of today's cars, rather tedious. Most supposed petrolheads aren't into cars - they're into the gadgets fitted to their cars. Modern cars are no longer beautiful - the design language is too aggressive, because the market wants a car that screams "outtamyway" when it appears in someone's rear view mirror. And don't get me started on 2m wide, 2.5 ton SUVs for the school run...  1

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Gary's bike channel replied to srchar | 4 years ago
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agreed re modern cars not having the same... zazzzzz as older stuff. I'm way into vintage cars myself. Something about how the first engines got going, crank handles breaking wrists, valves only capable of opening and closing at 1200 rpm, 8 horse power, i'd much prefer to examine the workings of a car like that than a modern day supercar. Way more. I like simplicity.  

In the same way, I prefer the american muscle cars of thr 60's, think charger, chevelle- that low idle sound.. its orgasmic. Such a simple engine, only revs to maybe 5500 rpm and gets 10 mpg, but with pushrod designs, its less likely to go wrong, less stressed, and with carbs, not fuel injection, you can fix it yourself. 

I hate modern designs. Everything is so crammed into the engine bay, it makes doing the slightest job such an ass pain. I swear car companies do it on purpose cos they know you'll have to bring it to their dealers, not do it yourself, makes them more money.

 

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